What’s something you miss from the old days?

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What’s Something You Miss From the Old Days?

Oh, where do I begin?

• Getting up from a chair without first checking in with my knees and hips to see if we’re all in agreement.
• Not having arthritis. I used to think getting old meant gray hair and a few wrinkles. Apparently, it also means your joints have their own opinions.
• Not having a 2:00 a.m. negotiation with my bladder, trying to decide whether I really need to get up, and hoping that if I do, I can actually get back to sleep. On the flip side of that, if I don’t get up can I make it to morning without wishing I had a diaper.
• Being able to work out at the gym like I used to, instead of spending half my time on functional exercises, mobility, and stretching. I used to lift weights to build muscle. Now I lift weights to make sure I can get off the toilet.
• Walking up a flight of stairs without wondering whether I should have taken the elevator.
• Sleeping through the night without waking up to take inventory of every ache and pain.
• Getting out of bed without needing a warm-up routine.
• Kneeling down to pick something up without calculating the difficulty of getting back up.
• Eating whatever I wanted without wondering how much heartburn, cholesterol, or regret it might cause.
• Remembering why I walked into a room. I swear, sometimes I get there and have absolutely no idea what the mission was.
• Being able to turn my head without my neck sounding like a bowl of Rice Krispies.
• And, of course, having the energy I used to have. Back then, I could stay up late and still function the next day. Now, staying up past 10:00 feels like a major commitment.

I don’t necessarily miss being young. I like where I am in life, and there are plenty of things I appreciate about getting older. But I wouldn’t mind trading in a few of these worn-out parts.

At this point, I’m not asking for much. Just a body that doesn’t require a daily maintenance schedule, a good night’s sleep, and the ability to get out of a chair without making a sound that suggests something serious just happened.

Is that really too much to ask?

What’s one thing you miss most about being younger? Is it your health, your energy, your freedom, or something completely different?